Like the lustrous quality of the metal itself, Olympic gold medalists are not only known as masters of their sport but as pillars of society. Often overcoming overwhelming odds, they reach the apex of athletic achievement, as witnessed and admired by millions around the world. They become the heroes of their sport and the nations they represent. As we recall the names of the likes of Jesse Owens, Herb Brooks, and Jesse Diggins, we acknowledge their athletic accomplishments, but we also recognize their stewardship to their sport and society in general.
We have such a person amongst us here in Lake Minnetonka: Bill Allen, gold medalist in yachting (sailing) from the 1972 Munich Olympic games. Recently I had the good pleasure of speaking with Bill and absorbing a little bit of his history and genius.
Before going into Bill’s story, it is important to understand the nuance of Lake Minnetonka in relation to competitive yachting (sailing) on the world stage. Despite its remoteness from any ocean, Lake Minnetonka has been a bastion for competitive sailing for well over one hundred years. Lake Minnetonka sailors and coaches are recognized and respected the world over. Case in point: we will have representation in sailing at the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris from Shoreview native Lara Dallman-Weiss.
Bill Allen is a product of that legacy. As a quintessential Lake Minnetonka native, Bill grew up on the lake with summers sailing and winters on the ice playing hockey. His youngest days were spent at their family’s cabin in Cottagewood, which they acquired in the late 1940s when Bill was still a toddler. Both Bill’s parents were already experienced sailors by this time, so their move to the lake offered a chance for young Bill’s sailing skills to blossom. Sailing started for Bill in the early 1950s, and he recalls fondly that his mother was his earliest boat “skipper.” He began his own competitive sailing career in 1957 while competing against and befriending other well-established sailing superstars on the lake and region.
During Bill’s college years, he kept sailing when he was at home, but his ambitious pursuit at the time was the Colorado College hockey team. Colorado College was one of the top teams in the country in the early seventies and was pegged to contribute players to the next Olympic games. Bill had spectacular years on the team through his junior year. However, much to the chagrin of his father, the Colorado College team did not work out as planned in his senior year, and he ended up dropping from the team.
However, as we all know so well, often, when fate closes one door, another one opens. Bill, by this time, was already a national champion in two intensively competitive classes of sailboats: the E scow and Finn. Almost on cue, as Bill’s hockey career was fading, Buddy Melges, by then an already accomplished Olympic gold medalist, invited him to be part of a championship crew for a different class of boat, the Soling, in Canada. The legend goes that Bill flew to Chicago O’Hare from Minneapolis, where Buddy was there waiting for him at the arrival curb, Soling boat in tow and all. Bill climbed in the car, drove to Kingston, Ontario, and helped Buddy handily win the championship. The rest, as they say, is history.
The 1972 Olympic game venue for sailing was in Kiel, Germany, hundreds of miles from the main venue of Munich. While the Munich games were marred with tragedy and controversy, Bill, Buddy Melges, and Bill Bentsen (whom they called ‘Doc’) comfortably took the gold medal podium in the Soling class.
An interesting twist to this story is that some of Bill’s teammates from Colorado College won bronze medals as part of the US hockey team at the Munich Olympics, while he won a gold in sailing. Life truly is a box of chocolates.
Bill’s accolades don’t stop with the Olympics, however. It would be fair to say that he has also attained apotheosis status in other sailing competition realms, with too many to mention dominating wins and titles in national and world sailing.
These days, Bill can be seen around Wayzata and Minnetonka Yacht Clubs with his multigenerational family, where he continues to compete and set the bar higher for his fellow yacht club competitors (I know because I’m one of them).
He is also a supporter of the lake’s sailing schools, Wayzata Sailing and Minnetonka Sailing School, where he is a tireless mentor for young sailors.
Bill Allen: genuinely one of our own local Olympic golds that has not dulled with time.
Lake Minnetonka has been a bastion for competitive sailing for well over one hundred years. Lake Minnetonka sailors and coaches are recognized and respected the world over.
Bill, Buddy Melges, and Bill Bentsen (whom they called ‘Doc’) comfortably took the gold medal podium in the Soling class.